


Play Along

by muchmorethanaprincess



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Bellarke AU Week, F/M, Modern AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-21
Updated: 2015-07-21
Packaged: 2018-04-10 11:47:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,857
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4390697
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/muchmorethanaprincess/pseuds/muchmorethanaprincess
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This is the "I pretended to be your significant other because you looked really uncomfortable with that person flirting with you at the bar so I decided to come to your rescue" AU that no one asked for but I wrote anyway.<br/>____________</p><p>The girl glanced over her shoulder when Bellamy smiled, wider than he had in the whole conversation, at Clarke. Whatever she had been saying trailed off as Clarke glided past her straight to Bellamy.<br/>“Hi babe!” She said as she grabbed him in a hug, reaching one hand up behind his neck to pull his head closer to hers. She kissed his cheek, then whispered in his ear, “Want me to get rid of this girl for you?” He nodded, and she felt the scrape of his stubble against her cheek. “Okay then, play along.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	Play Along

**Author's Note:**

> As always, this one-shot became longer and more involved that I originally expected. Hope you like it!

Clarke normally wouldn’t have even considered something like this – actually, Clarke normally wouldn’t have even stayed in a bar this long _alone_ – except that Bellamy Blake was standing by the bar looking thoroughly annoyed at the preppy girl next to him who wouldn’t leave him alone. Clarke originally went to the bar to meet Raven and relax after a long week. She had just ordered her drink when a text from Raven foiled their plan- _can’t make it, this idiot engineer won’t let me leave this friggin study session._ So Clarke had shrugged, and contented herself with finishing her drink and then heading home, where she could curl up with some ice cream and a movie.

That is, until she spotted Bellamy Blake.

At first it was funny, and Clarke was enjoying getting her kicks from seeing the rumored lady-killer looking completely irritated by the decked out sorority girl next to him. But this girl really couldn’t take a hint. Judging by his mood, Bellamy had probably been wearing his worst scowl before she even approached, and now he looked downright ready to hurt something. Clarke could tell that he had tried to be polite, smiling tightly at the girl’s attempts at flirting, but even from across the room she could see that he wanted her to leave.

His body language was completely closed off, hardly even facing the girl, and for a moment, Clarke felt bad for her. Was she really so clueless? Bellamy was so clearly uninterested, she was only wasting her time.

But that was when Bellamy looked her way, and Clarke decided, _no, I feel worse for him_. Because the look on his face was something akin to “God, I’m dying here.” He broke the eye contact when the girl put her hand on his forearm, just beneath the cuffed sleeve of his button down shirt, and Clarke saw the way his eyes narrowed at those primly painted fingernails against his dark skin. And then she saw him look back up at her, holding their eye contact for a hot second until Clarke broke it.

A rogue thought flashed through her mind, sounding vaguely like Raven’s voice. _You know, you could just walk over there and get her to leave him alone._ But Clarke immediately rejected it. What would she do, pretend to be his girlfriend? Some past love interest? That was ridiculous.

Maybe if she knew him better. But she didn’t know him, not really. _Not as if you don’t want to,_ Raven’s voice echoed through her head again. She batted the thought away. So he was gorgeous, so what? There were plenty of attractive guys around campus. Bellamy just happened to have been the grad student TA for her mythology course last semester, and she just happened to have appreciated staring at him every class. Especially the classes when he took over teaching for the very old, very dry professor. Hearing him speak so enthusiastically and so intelligently about the subject (and she suspected _any_ subject really) was a bit of a turn on. Not to mention the delicious depth of his voice.

So she may have mentioned him to Raven once or twice. But that didn’t mean she would just walk over and act more familiar than they were, even if he did look desperate to get rid of the girl who was now standing surprisingly close given all of the _back off_ signals Bellamy seemed to be exuding. Even if he was staring right at Clarke, again.

 _Okay, fine._ Clarke decided if he looked at her five more times in the next five minutes, she would go help him out. After all, he was alone in the bar just like her, and had probably wanted nothing more than to drink his beer in peace after a long week of grading papers or writing a thesis or whatever it is grad students do. _But what will I even say?_ Clarke thought as she noted his first glance her way. _Ask about Octavia,_ she realized. All Clarke really knew about Bellamy was that he had a younger sister named Octavia, who had lived on the same floor as Clarke last year. They had been casual friends in passing, eaten a few meals in the dining hall together. Octavia was nice, albeit pretty fiery, so she wanted to be on her good side.

Clarke realized that he was staring at her again. Was that the second or third? Does it even matter, she thought, because he’s not even looking away anymore?

“Oh what the hell,” she muttered to herself as she finally stood from her seat, leaving her empty drink behind. Bellamy’s eyes, still on her, quickly lit up when he saw that she meant to approach. _So far so good,_ she thought.

The girl glanced over her shoulder when Bellamy smiled, wider than he had in the whole conversation, at Clarke. Whatever she had been saying trailed off as Clarke glided past her straight to Bellamy.

“Hi babe!” She said as she grabbed him in a hug, reaching one hand up behind his neck to pull his head closer to hers. She kissed his cheek, then whispered in his ear, “Want me to get rid of this girl for you?” He nodded, and she felt the scrape of his stubble against her cheek. “Okay then, play along.”

She didn’t pull away very far, and he seemed to understand her ploy when he placed one hand on the curve of her waist to hold her close to him.

“I’m sorry I’m late, work was crazy and I only just got away.” When she finally glanced at his face, Bellamy was looking at her with an expression somewhere dangerously close to awe, and Clarke thought stupidly that she could get used to that.

“How was your day?” She asked.

“Oh, it was-it was fine.” He said.

She nodded like he had said something important, and placed a hand on his chest. _Might as well take advantage of this while I can,_ she thought.

“How’s Octavia?” She asked, and he seemed momentarily startled, but schooled his expression quickly, and then a glint came in his eye.

“Octavia’s great. I was just talking to her actually, she said to thank you for setting her up with that guy. She saw him last weekend and apparently it went well.”

“Oh yay! I knew they would be good together!” Clarke exclaimed, playing along. Bellamy leaned down quickly to press his lips against Clarke’s temple, and she very nearly jumped. _Oh lord, I could definitely get used to that._

Clarke turned, and saw the girl who had been flirting with Bellamy not five minutes before staring dumbly at them, mouth hanging open and a confused look on her face.

“Oh I’m sorry,” Clarke said. “Who are you?”

The girl seemed to stumble for a second. “Sophie.”

“Hi Sophie, I’m Bellamy’s girlfriend Clarke,” she said smoothly. She felt Bellamy’s hand tighten slightly on her waist, and she looked back up at him. “I could really use a drink babe.”

Bellamy turned to flag down the bartender while Clarke looked back to Sophie, who was beginning to look incredibly embarrassed. “Thanks for keeping Bellamy company while he waited for me. Maybe we’ll see you around?”

Sophie, effectively dismissed, mumbled something in acknowledgement and turned to walk away.

Bellamy squeezed her waist. “You’re a miracle worker. What can I get you to drink?”

“Oh,” Clarke fumbled. “I didn’t really mean that, you don’t have to.”

“You deserve an award for that performance. Please, let me buy you a drink.”

“Okay,” she said, suddenly aware that he was every bit as attractive up close as he was lecturing in class. She glanced at his beer as she moved to sit at the bar stool just next to him. “I’ll have whatever you’re having.”

“You got it.” He said, and turned to the bartender to order for her. She took the moment to try to compose herself, because when she decided to help Bellamy get rid of flirty Sophie, she had thought she would just walk away afterward. Now she was going to have to actually talk to him, and his voice kept making her brain feel fuzzy.

The bartender put Clarke’s beer in front of her and Bellamy nodded at him in a way that made Clarke think they were friends.

“So, you know my sister?” Bellamy began.

“Oh, yeah. We lived on the same floor in the dorms last year. We weren’t very close, but friendly enough I guess.” Clarke shrugged.

“She would probably have a field day if she saw what you just did. Laughing her ass off that I couldn’t get some girl at a bar to leave me alone.”  
“Yeah what was with that girl anyway? I could practically feel your irritation from across the room but she was like, immune.”

Bellamy laughed, and Clarke felt a tiny thrill at how relaxed his face seemed compared to ten minutes ago. “She wasn’t drunk, but I think she was too tipsy to notice. Either that or really, really determined.”

“Hmm. Well, who could blame her?”

Bellamy turned an incredulous look on Clarke, and she couldn’t help the laugh that escaped her. “Sorry,” she muttered, unembarrassed.

“Uh, don’t be, I guess,” he said casually, shrugging it off. “So what were you doing alone in here anyway?”

“I was supposed to meet my friend Raven, but she got caught up in something. I was planning on ditching this dive for some Netflix and my couch, but then I noticed you and it was kind of… entertaining.”

Bellamy huffed. “Glad I could improve your Friday night.”

She tipped her beer at him, “What are you doing alone here?”

“Octavia stood me up for her new boyfriend,” he said grumpily.

“Yikes, no points for him.”

Bellamy laughed. “She knows there’s no hope of me being cool with him anyway, so what’s the point, I guess?”

“What’s wrong with him?”

“He’s about five years older than her, he’s six foot three or something crazy like that, he looks like a freaking bodybuilder, he’s got tattoos.” Bellamy sounded almost glum.

“Sounds like an older brother’s worst nightmare,” Clarke teased.

“Did I mention he has a fucking motorcycle?”

“Oh, that’s an actual yikes, motorcycles are death machines.”

“I know. And I know I’m being ridiculous, you don’t have to tell me.”

“I wasn’t going to say that. I mean, Octavia _is_ my age – she’s old enough to date someone a few years older than her. But I don’t think it’s ridiculous to be worried about her.”

Bellamy looked at Clarke appraisingly. “Thanks. It’s just hard to get past the feeling that I’m the only one she’s got. Our mom died when she was in high school, and it was all up to me to take care of her.”

“I didn’t know that. But you did a good job, if Octavia herself is any indication. She was always the one on the floor getting everyone else out of their bad situations, not the other way around. I think she can probably be trusted to pick a boyfriend.”

“Hmm. You’re probably right. I mean, logically, I know you are right. But emotionally, I feel like I need to punch him.”

Clarke laughed. “From your description of him I’d say that’s probably a bad idea.”

“He could definitely take me. Probably in about three seconds, too.”

“And it’d be a shame to put your pretty face through an altercation like that.”

“You think my face is pretty?”

Clarke said nothing, just raised an eyebrow.

“Anyway,” she said, draining the last of her beer and hopping off her stool, “I’m going to go home and do that Netflix thing I was talking about.”

“Oh, right,” Bellamy said, sounding disappointed. “Well, have fun with that.”

She turned to look at him, calculating. “Do you want to join me?”

“Oh, um,” he looked down, and if the lighting was better Clarke might have been sure he was blushing. “No, that’s okay.”

“Bellamy,” Clarke said sternly. “Would you like to come to my apartment and watch a movie with me? I’m assuming your sister isn’t going to show up an hour late? I was going to stop at the store for some ice cream on the way, but it’s just around the corner.”

“Fine,” he rolled his eyes good-naturedly. “I guess if there’s ice cream involved, I’ll come.” He stood and followed her to the door, nodding at the bartender as they left.

“Is he a friend of yours?” Clarke asked.

“Who, Miller? Yeah, we were roommates freshman year, he’s a good guy.”

“Is he into guys?” Clarke asked.

“You mean romantically? Yeah.”

“Oh good, my friend Monty’s had this ridiculous crush on him for like six months, but he’s been too chicken to make a move.”

“Monty?” Bellamy said, thinking. “Cute Asian kid, kind of skinny, really smart?”

“Yeah...?”

“Well, that was Miller’s description, not mine. Pretty sure it’s reciprocated. I mean Miller actually mentioned him, which is usually a good sign. He’s pretty closed-lipped about most stuff.”

“Well that’s good news, although I might have to dare Monty or something like that to get him to actually do something about it.”

They made it to the store and picked a carton of ice cream, and then it was only a few more minutes to Clarke’s apartment, where she directed Bellamy to the couch and told him to choose something to watch while she retrieved spoons and water from the kitchen.

When she walked back in, Bellamy had the title screen of a movie based on a Greek myth paused on the screen, and Clarke laughed. “I should have known you’d pick something like this. Honestly, you’re such a nerd.”

“Nothing I haven’t heard before. Octavia used to tell me that daily, so,” he shrugged. “Unless you don’t want to watch this,” he added suddenly, “we can pick something else.”

“No, this is fine. I haven’t seen it, so as long as you can vouch for its quality…”

“It’s good, you’ll like it.”

“Play on then,” she said teasingly.

They ate the ice cream straight from the carton, which meant they had to sit close together, and their arms kept brushing. Clarke certainly didn’t mind, and when Bellamy stopped eating twenty minutes into the movie (which was quite good, so far) he didn’t move away.

But twenty minutes after that his phone started ringing, and when he checked the screen, he looked at Clarke apologetically. “It’s Octavia, I’m sorry.”

“No, it’s fine,” she said, pausing the movie.

“Hey, O”

Octavia had always been pretty loud, and Clarke could hear her voice ringing over the line. “ _Bell, I am so sorry. Oh my god I can’t believe I forgot, I’m a total idiot, I am the worst sister ever. I am so so sorry.”  
_ “It’s okay,” Bellamy said softly, and Clarke looked over at his face in the dark because it sounded like the words got stuck in his throat.

“ _No, it’s not okay, I’m terrible. We have a tradition, and I forgot, I cannot fucking believe I forgot today.”_

“It’s fine, Octavia, you’re happy right now, you don’t have to apologize for that.”

“ _Yes I do, and I’m leaving Lincoln’s right now, I’ll be at your place in twenty minutes, okay? We can still get shit-faced and spend the night crying._ ”

“No, Octavia, don’t do that. I’m not at home anyway.”

“ _What? Where the hell are you? Please don’t tell me you’re at a bar by yourself. You’re not allowed to get drunk alone, not tonight._ ”

Clarke took that as a cue to remove herself from the room, feeling like she was intruding, and went to the kitchen to put the ice cream in the freezer. She tried not to listen to Bellamy’s conversation, but his deep voice carried easily through the apartment.

“I’m uh, I’m with a friend.” He said awkwardly. “Um, Clarke? She lived on your floor last year… yeah. She’s been keeping me distracted… please don’t apologize again Octavia, I swear I’m okay… I’m sure, stay at Lincoln’s… I’m glad that you’re happy.” He laughed. “Honestly, I am.” He paused, and his voice dropped almost too quiet to hear from Clarke’s spot in the kitchen. “I miss her too, O. Okay, I love you too. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Clarke waited a few moments before walking back to the living room, trying not to look like she was listening in, though she knew she failed miserably. She didn’t say anything as she sat down, just pressed play on the movie and settled on the couch.

Neither spoke for about ten minutes, until Bellamy cleared his throat and turned to look at her.

“So, my mom died six years ago today.”

“Oh.”

“Octavia and I have this tradition of going out and getting plastered, but she forgot this year because she was with Lincoln, and she’s happy.”

“I’m really sorry.”

Bellamy almost laughed. “You don’t have anything to be sorry for, you’re the one who saved me from spending the whole night moping by myself. I should be thanking you.”

“Well in that case,” Clarke looked at his face in the dim lighting, “you’re welcome.”

She pushed the hair out of her face and turned back to the movie. When she put her hand down on the couch and it landed on his, she didn’t pull away, and he twined his fingers through hers.

A half hour later, Bellamy was asleep on her shoulder, and even though she enjoyed the closeness, it was beginning to be a little painful. She shifted carefully, moving so that she was propped against the armrest and Bellamy was lying almost on top of her, his face resting on her collarbone. She had free reign to run her hands over his muscled back, which was _nice_. But then Raven walked in and slammed the front door behind her, and Clarke cursed silently as Bellamy began to stir.

“Clarke, you home?” She shouted into the apartment.

“I’ve got company, leave me alone!” Clarke shouted back.

“Alright. Remember, no sex on the couch!”

“Remember who paid for the couch?” She yelled back.

“Yeah, whatever,” Raven grumbled as they heard her shut her bedroom door.

“Sorry about that,” Clarke said softly, looking up at Bellamy, who was now holding himself above her.

“It’s fine,” he said, and then he was looking at her lips, and Clarke tried to give off _I’m totally cool with this_ vibes as much as possible. But even when she glanced down at his lips, and then back to his eyes, which _come on_ , that was an obvious signal, he didn’t move.

“Thanks for saving me from that girl at the bar,” he whispered, like his words were something secret. “And thank you for inviting me here, thank you for not leaving me alone tonight. I know you didn’t know about my mom, but…”

“You’re welcome,” she said, and then, because goddammit she crushed on him the whole semester he was her TA, and he was currently _on top of her_ but not touching her, she said, “But I could think of a better way to thank me.”

“Oh really?”

“Mmhmm,” she mumbled, and reached her hand to grip his neck and pull his lips to hers.

He fell into the kiss easily, and Clarke hummed into his mouth in satisfaction. She pushed one hand under his shirt to run her fingers over his warm skin and ran the other through his hair. His hands held her face gently, stroking her cheekbones, until he dropped one to her waist to hold her tight against him.

“This isn’t just because it’s the anniversary of my mom’s death, is it?” He asked, breathing heavy.

“No,” she murmured, trailing kisses over his jaw until she reached his neck. When she sucked lightly over his pulse point, his hips jolted forward, and he pulled away. Clarke couldn’t stop the small sound of disappointment flying from her lips.  
“I should go,” he said, pressing a reassuring kiss to her temple. She eyed him shrewdly.

“If you leave, are you going to sit around alone and feel depressed about your mom?”

He hesitated.

“You are! You totally are. You’re not going home. You’re spending the night here.”

“That’s really not necessary Clarke.”

“Yes it is, I know the dead parent routine, I’m not letting you spend the rest of the night alone after I already rescued you from the beginning of it.”

“The dead parent routine?” He frowned.

“My dad,” Clarke shrugged. “When I was fourteen. Christmastime is hard for me.” She pushed him off her and slid off the couch.

“Come on,” she said, holding her hand out, “you’re staying here tonight, I’m not going to hear any arguments about it.”

He took her hand and followed her to her bedroom, where they fell asleep quickly, Bellamy spooned against her back.

 

Clarke woke up to an empty bed and the smell of pancakes.

“Hi,” she mumbled, her voice heavy with sleep, when she saw Bellamy standing over the stove in the kitchen. He looked up, and his face brightened instantly. Clarke’s heart leapt at the sight of his grin, and she didn’t bother tamping down her own.

“Hi, I hope you don’t mind that I’m making you pancakes? I feel like you deserve it after last night.”

“Pancakes are never a problem with me.”

“Good,” he said softly, his eyes lingering on her face. “Um, I saw your roommate, Raven? Just like ten minutes ago, so I’m sorry if you didn’t want her to know I spent the night. I don’t know if that’s weird for you.”

“Not weird at all,” Clarke said cheerfully. “She’ll just congratulate me on ‘tapping that’ and then, when I tell her that I did not in fact ‘tap that,’ she will express her extreme disappointment with me.”

Bellamy laughed, and Clarke rejoiced at the way his face flushed pink.

“Well, I suppose that ‘tapping that’ could be an option on the table,” he said casually.

“Oh really?” Clarke asked as she made her way to him. She grabbed his waist and turned him to face her.

“Really,” he said, holding her face in his hands and swooping down to kiss her.

“I feel like this is as good a time as any,” he said when he broke away from her mouth, “to ask if I can have your phone number.”

She laughed against his chest. “I put it in your phone last night when you were asleep.”

His laugh rumbled through her. She pulled him forward until her back pressed against the counter and his body pushed against hers.

They kissed until the batch of pancakes on the stove started smoking, and then he planted her on one of the stools at the counter and told her to stay there if she ever wanted breakfast. She complied, but only because she had a really great view of his ass from the seat. Plus, she was totally planning on making out with him once they finished eating. And maybe doing some other things too.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading, and I'd love to know what you think if you have a chance. As always, you can find me on tumblr if you want to cry with me about these idiots that I love so much.


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